If you're a local ice cream lover, you may have picked up a pint of Wasatch Creamery ice cream at the Park City Farmer's Market or Park Silly. If you did, you'll likely remember how decadent and delicious it was. And if you haven't, you need to try this ice cream! Unlike the pints you normally buy at the store, Wasatch Creamery's ice cream is some of the richest, creamiest, and flavorful stuff out there thanks to the special care of Kris Tart, the woman behind every pint of oh-so-delicious ice cream. What's her secret? Less is more. Specifically, less air. A significant amount of air goes into every gallon of ice cream. In fact, the industry standard is around 50 percent, but Wasatch Creamery is sitting pretty at 30, leaving a higher concentration of the good stuff--milk, cream, sugar, and eggs plus and a few fresh ingredient(s) depending on the flavor (be it strawberries, basil, blackberry, or lime) you choose.

Tart was raised in Colorado, eating farm-to-table on the ranch before it was a trend. Her love of food took her to school at the California Culinary Academy. After graduating she worked at Frasca Food & Wine and The Kitchen in Boulder before making her way to Park City in 2001 where she took on leadership roles in the culinary sector at both Deer Valley and Park City Mountain. Somewhere along the way, Tart started making ice cream for fun, but a little less than three years ago she made the decision to turn her ice cream making hobby into a business (she was already fielding regular requests for pints from friends).

Initially, Tart used two 2-quart Cuisine Art ice cream makers, but it quickly became apparent she would have to upgrade to keep up with demand. While the ingredients are simple enough, ice cream making equipment costs a small fortune. "I couldn't pay $30,000 for a brand new machines so I scoured the country for a used one," says Tart. "I finally found one in Austin, Texas and went to pick it up. I buckled it in the back of my car and drove all the way back. Making it over the mountains was quite the adventure." At $5K, the machine--named Ziggy by--cost Tart $5,000, but it also upped her capacity to one gallon in 15 minutes. Since then, the demand for Wasatch Creamery ice cream has risen again. "I'm pulling all nighters and trying to take a nap while the machine is spinning," Tart admits. Luckily, she's found another discounted machine to upgrade to, this time an Italian-made Carpigiani which will allow her to triple production and even hire her first employees.

Tart's ice cream making process is actually relatively simple. Eggs, milk, cream, and sugar. No preservatives or artificial flavors. Check out the video below for a demonstration:

While making uber creamy, decadent ice cream for humans remains her top priority, Tart is also thinking of the pups. She's come up with a flavor just for dogs (made from organic yogurt, chicken stock, and bacon bits) in honor of her own pooch Gustavo, a three-year-old Border Collie she adopted around the same time she started Wasatch Creamery. Tart is hosting a naming contest for the dog ice cream April 1 - May 1; the winner gets a summer's worht of ice cream. Enter to win here.